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Engine Test With Producer Gas

Submitted by Jeff Davis on Sun, 01/13/2013 - 20:45

Bench tests with a four-cylinder stationary engine were made with gasoline
and producer gas from charcoal as the fuels. A comparison of their performance
revf'aled that maximum power from producer gas from charcoal is about 55 per-
cent of gasoline power, and that about 11.4 pounds of charcoal is equivalent to
1 gallon of gasoline. When operating an engine on producer gas the spark should
be advanced beyond the setting for maximum power with gasoline.

The work reported herein is a portion of an extensive investigation
[1]1 of substitute motor fuels, conducted by the National Bureau of
Standards for the Foreign Economic Administration. The objective
of this phase of the investigation was the evaluation of charcoal as
a fuel for automotive purposes and the determination of the per-
formance both of the gas producer and of the engine when operating
on producer gas from charcoal.

The engine used for this study was a four cylinder International
Model U-4 with a displacement of 152.1 cubic inches. It was de-
signed for multifuel uses and was supplied with a combination gas-
gasoline carburetor, a distillate carburetor, a manifold with heat
control, and also cylinder head, piston and cylinder sleeve combina-
tions to give compression ratios of 4.75, 5.9, 7.35, and 10.0. '1'he
5.9 compression ratio was used in this work. Ignition was by an
impulse-coupled magneto. A spark-advance indicator was added,
and the range of adjustment of the ignition timing was increased to
50 degrees. An adjustable carburetor was used so that air-fuel
ratios could be changed easily.

Sponsored by:

TR Miles Technical Consultants Inc. www.trmiles.com
Portland, Oregon, United States of America

TR Miles Technical Consultants assist the development, design and installation of Agricultural and Industrial Systems for Materials Handling, Air Quality and Biomass Energy;
Renewable energy from biomass and wastes.